Arsene Wenger may be right to snub Cesc Fabregas

The imminent sight of Cesc Fabregas in a Chelsea shirt may be too much for some Arsenal fans to take.

Last season gave the Gunners reason to be optimistic ahead of a crucial summer transfer window. Not only had Arsenal proved they could challenge for a Premier League title, they also ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup.

Arsene Wenger has now got a bank account filled with £100 million worth of expendable cash and Arsenal fans were hopeful that not a penny would be left come September.

Better still, their inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas was ready to come back to the Emirates Stadium after being shown the exit door by Barcelona. All Wenger had to do was hand over £27m and they could have him. But there lies the problem.

A human barrier made up of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla are standing in Fabregas' way of the Arsenal dressing room. Wenger had no choice. He told Fabregas he had no space for him and that he would have to find a new club, which, painfully, appears to be Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.

If the transfer happens as expected, Arsenal fans will, understandably, be incredulous. How could Wenger turn down the chance to sign arguably his greatest ever youth product, especially when it leaves the door open for a direct rival to sign him?

But as hard as it will be to see Fabregas lining up against Arsenal for Chelsea next season, Wenger may well have made the right decision. Fabregas would be a luxury rather than a necessity and there is no room in football for such things.

You only need to cast your minds back five months to see what a luxury signing can do for a club. Manchester United forked out £37m to sign Juan Mata from Chelsea. Blues fans couldn't understand why Mourinho allowed such a move to happen while Manchester United fans couldn't believe their luck.

But as of yet the transfer seems to have been a PR mission and has achieved close to nothing with regards to improving the team. Mata is a terrific player, but fitting him into a team that already boasts Wayne Rooney was never going to work. Shinji Kagawa was already struggling to get in the team and he is virtually the same player as the diminutive Spaniard.

It made Manchester United fans happy for a couple of weeks but now Manchester United are paying a £37m tab for a player they didn't need, signed by a manager who is no longer in charge.

Even Gary Neville questioned the purchase of Mata, telling Sky Sports in January: "The first question, I think, is where are you going to play him?

"Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie are up top if they are fit so where are you going to play him? Are you going to play him off the left or off the right?

"Does he fit with what I would call the typical philosophy of Manchester United? I would say no."

The same could be true for Fabregas. There will be street parties around Highbury if Fabregas joins but when Wenger is struggling to fit him into a squad which is young, vibrant and creative, probably at the expense of Wilshere, that joy will quickly die.

Regardless, Fabregas severed his ties with Wenger when he demanded a move back to his boyhood club. Wenger gave Fabregas everything by welcoming him into his squad as an unproven 17-year-old and it was thrown back in his face. Now, as Fabregas comes crawling back with his tail between his legs, he finds his throne has been taken up by a combination of fantastic players.

Keeping the budget in the bank may be of miserable familiarity for Arsenal fans, but Wenger's priorities lie in strengthening the areas that remain weak, not where it is strongest. It may be a horribly familiar situation to see Wenger keep his purse strings tight, but in this situation, there is a very good chance he will be proved right.

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